UNSEEN
'Unseen' explores narratives from the present and past. 'We navigate and carve space for women’s voices and intersectional issues surrounding the female experience by using our practice of painting, drawing and film as modes of communication.'
Hughes and Kelly both represent the subject through figurative painting, engaging with the history of painting women and exploring further modes of representing women though the female gaze. ‘Unseen’ shines a spotlight, but also celebrates women’s work, both paid and in the home, work which is often devalued and made invisible as part of an exploration into gender inequalities.
These themes are explored in Kelly’s work through her focus on painting and hearing the stories of women in the public sector including NHS workers and teachers. While Hughes paintings scrutinize women experience of marriage or domestic partnerships through the semiotics of ‘veiling’ and ideals of beauty.
